Security Council to receive Goldstone ‘soon’

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The United Nations secretary-general said he will send the Goldstone report to the U.N. Security Council "as soon as possible."

Ban Ki-moon made the remarks last Friday, a day after the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution asking that Ban deliver the report to the Security Council.

The report accuses Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes and possible crimes against humanity and calls on the sides to open independent investigations of the report’s allegations. The 15 members of the Security Council have received copies of the report on last winter’s Gaza war, according to reports.

The Goldstone report could be debated as early as Wednesday when the Security Council is scheduled to meet on the topic of the protection of civilians in armed conflict, according to reports.

It is expected that the United States would use its veto in the Security Council to prevent any action being taken on Goldstone. The United States has said the report belongs in the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, which commissioned the report.